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Senate GOP files new ethics complaints against Nicole Mitchell, state senator facing felony burglary charges
In an ethics complaint filed Tuesday, Senate Republicans argued Mitchell had a conflict of interest when she voted to block a motion that would have opened her to an expulsion vote. They also filed…
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Minnesota Senate Republicans are leaning into their push to force state Sen. Nicole Mitchell from office after the Woodbury Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmaker was hit with another felony charge tied to her alleged break-in at her stepmother’s home last year.
In an ethics complaint filed Tuesday, Senate Republicans argued Mitchell had a conflict of interest when she voted to block a motion that would have opened her to an expulsion vote. They also filed an updated ethics complaint which includes her new charge of felony burglary tools possession, which prosecutors filed on Feb. 10.
Mitchell now faces two felony charges in connection with the April 22 break-in, where prosecutors allege the senator used a crowbar to pry open a basement window of her stepmother’s home in Detroit Lakes.
Mitchell, who pleaded not guilty and is set to go to trial on June 16, told officers she was there to retrieve her father’s ashes and other sentimental items, according to the criminal complaint. The first-term DFL senator has declined to resign even as members of her own party, including Gov. Tim Walz, have called on her to do so.
Efforts to remove MitchellMinority Republicans filed an ethics complaint against Mitchell last year based on the initial felony charge and pushed for votes to remove her from office, but so far they haven’t succeeded. It takes a two-thirds majority of the 67-member Senate to remove a member, and while some DFLers have said Mitchell should step down, Republicans need 12 to break rank to reach the 45-vote threshold.
While the DFL has a 34-33 majority, on Jan. 27, the Senate was tied 33-33 between the parties following the death of Minneapolis DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic the month before.
Republicans pushed to put a removal vote before the Senate when the parties were still tied, but it failed on party lines.
If Mitchell hadn’t participated, Republicans could have prevailed 33-32. At a Tuesday news conference announcing the new and updated complaints, Sen. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, said Mitchell had a “personal and financial interest” in the outcome.
“Sen. Mitchel deliberately and defiantly violated the rules of ethical conduct of the Minnesota Senate,” Drazkowski said. “Our contention is simple, Sen. Mitchell has a conflict of interest in any vote related to her political future.”
Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa. (Courtesy of the Minnesota House of Representatives)Ethics committeeA Senate ethics committee will have to hear the complaint within a month, but it’s unlikely the new Republican complaints will gain traction.
Last year, the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct deadlocked on the initial complaint against Mitchell on partisan lines. The committee, which must hear complaints within 30 days, has two DFL and two Republican members even with an overall DFL majority in the Senate.
The new complaints will need to be heard soon. Democrats have maintained that Mitchell must have a trial before the Senate can decide to act.
“As I have maintained since April, Senator Mitchell is owed due process. That includes the adjudication of her case in court, and the consideration of ethics in the Senate,” Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy said in a statement. “The subcommittee on ethics will continue to play its role in due time.”
Sen. Erin P. Murphy, DFL-St. Paul. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Senate)Mitchell’s attorney Bruce Ringstrom Jr. said changes to charges against Mitchell shouldn’t warrant a new ethics complaint as they don’t introduce any new evidence in the case.
“Without any actual evidence to support a new ethics complaint, there shouldn’t be another hearing scheduled,” he said in a statement.
Trial delayedMichell was originally scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 27, but a judge agreed to delay the trial until after the legislative session. Judge Michael D. Fritz sided with Mitchell’s attorneys, who cited state law barring members of the Legislature from being tried for crimes during the session or when they are attending committee business.
Prosecutors argued the seriousness of the alleged offense warranted an exception, but Fritz said the law does not differentiate between levels of charges.
Mitchell, a first-term senator and former broadcast meteorologist who is a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, was elected in 2022 and is in the third year of her four-year term. She isn’t scheduled to face election again until 2026.
Originally Published: February 18, 2025 at 7:04 PM CST
